How to Get Your Shipments from China to Amazon FBA
If you're selling on FBA, you want to try to send your products into Amazon directly as often as possible and avoid 3PLs. Why? Because 3PLs are expensive.
While shipping products from China to Amazon warehouses isn't incredibly difficult, it's also slightly more complex than asking your supplier to stick a UPS label on a product and send it to a single Amazon warehouse. In this post, I'll discuss the different ways you can get your products to Amazon FBA distribution centres.
Further Reading: I Worked at an Amazon FBA Warehouse for a Week. Here's What I Learned
Your Choices: Direct to FBA or with a Third Party Logistics Company (3PL)
So before I begin, allow me to give you a bit of bad news. As of 2023, Amazon is making it harder and more expensive to ship your inventory directly into FBA from China because of inventory storage limits and hefty ‘aged-inventory' surcharges. Basically, if you're planning on having your inventory sit at Amazon for 6 months or more, you're going to be way better off using a 3PL. However, if your inventory turns relatively quickly, then shipping directly into FBA from China is likely going to be your best option.
Getting your products to Amazon FBA really boils down to three choices:
- You can ship to your own warehouse/house in the US first and then to Amazon
- You can ship to Amazon directly from China using Amazon Global Logistics
- You can ship to Amazon directly from China using your own freight forwarder
Amazon has its own freight forwarding service called Amazon Global Logistics (AGL). With AGL, Amazon will pick up your goods in China and ship them directly to an Amazon warehouse. This is your best option for shipping directly into FBA warehouses from China but there are some complications (specifically inventory limits). You can see our guide on Amazon Global Logistics here.
You can also ship directly into China using your own freight forwarder. This is relatively straight forward and most freight forwarders are familiar with how to ship into Amazon. Whether you use Amazon Global Logistics or your own freight forwarder, your supplier will need to apply Amazon shipping labels to all of your cartons.
You can also have your products shipped directly to your house or a 3PL (third-party logistics company). Once at your ‘warehouse' you can simply ship your products into FBA warehouses with UPS partnered carriers. This is the simplest way but also the most expensive.
Using Import Records to Find and Vet Chinese Suppliers
One of the best things an importer can do is to use import records to help them find products to import and vet suppliers.
As mentioned, in America, import and export records are public information, however, the government does not catalog or give easy access to this information. However, there are tools that do allow you to easily search for this information, the most popular and cheapest being Jungle Scout (others include Import Genius and Panjiva).
These tools allow you to:
- Find out what Chinese supplier a competitor is using (great for finding products)
- See how much a supplier exports
- Find out what suppliers export specific products
See our article A Secret Weapon for Doing Supplier Research
The Pros/Cons of Shipping Direct to Amazon FBA
Let's look at the pros and cons of shipping direct to Amazon from China.
Direct to FBA Pros
- Cheaper
- Quicker
- Less handling of your products
Direct to FBA Cons
- Can't inspect order domestically before it gets to Amazon
- Can't use partnered carriers
- Shipments to multiple Amazon FCs is challenging
- Supplier knows you're selling on Amazon
The biggest advantage of shipping from China to Amazon directly is that it is much quicker and cheaper. You will normally save 1-2 weeks in transit time if shipping direct from China. You will also eliminate 3PL costs which are hundreds or thousands of dollars per shipment, depending on the size.
The biggest problem with shipping direct from China to Amazon FBA is if you're shipping many different items, especially when some of those items are oversized and some of them are standard size. Amazon will always require standard-size items and oversized items to go to different warehouses, meaning you can't ship them together (even if you pay a placement fee, see below).
You can determine if Amazon will want you to ship to multiple FCs by creating a shipment within Amazon (do not approve the shipment).
As of 2024, Almost All Items Go to Multiple Warehouses Unless You Pay Extra
In 2024, Amazon basically completely changed logistics and requires all shipments to be sent to multiple FCs unless you pay extra to ship to one FC (called a ‘placement fee'). Previously, standard size items would almost always go to just one warehouse.
This placement fee will apply whether you ship via your own forwarder or with Amazon Global Logistics (although Amazon is giving a bit of a discount for shipments with Amazon Global Logistics).
There used to be a number of blackhat ways to ship directly into one FC (including ignoring other shipments or using software) but Amazon has been very aggressive in 2023/2024 of closing these loopholes. So in a nutshell, if you want to ship directly into Amazon and avoid using a 3PL you're going to pay more for a placement fee.
Three Easy Steps to Ship Direct to Amazon from China
Below will outline how to ship directly to China using sea or air shipping. If you'd like to ship full containers to Amazon you can see our full article on how to ship full containers direct from China to Amazon FBA.
- Create a shipment in Amazon Seller Central (and pay for placement). The first thing to do is to create a shipment in FBA and find out what warehouse you're going to. Replenish inventory as you normally would within Amazon Seller Central (see below). Again, as of 2024 you're probably going to need to pay extra for ‘placement fees' to get your shipment to one warehouse.
If you're shipping using Amazon Global Logistics, enter your factory's China address as the Ship from address. Otherwise, use a Southern California Ship From address such as the address below. This increases the likelihood of you being able to ship to a California FC, which is the most efficient distance-wise from China (Amazon does not care what address you put here as you cannot use partnered carriers).
- Once you've confirmed you're only shipping to one warehouse, have your supplier apply barcodes to each individual item, carton labels to each master carton, and pallet labels to the four sides of each pallet (if shipping pallets). A pallet will look like below. Whether you're using Amazon Global Logistics or your own freight forwarder, this process will be exactly the same.
If exporting pallets from China you must ensure the pallets are ISPM-15. They may charge you more for this. - Set a pickup time for Amazon Global Logistics OR arrange with your freight forwarder for door-to-door service from China to the address of the designated Amazon warehouse. If you're shipping via Amazon Global Logistics, you will set a date that your shipment is ready and Amazon will contact your supplier to arrange pickup. If you're using your own freight forwarder then ensure your freight forwarder has shipped to Amazon before and is comfortable with their carrier appointment requirements (most are).
There are also a number of services popping up within China that consolidate your shipments and ship direct to Amazon FBA. Two popular ones are mclhk.net and antlogistics.com.cn. These services will quote you an all-in-one rate (including sea freight, overland freight, and customs clearance) per CBM. The rates are very good but there can be significant language issues.
All Duties and Freight Must be Prepaid
Amazon won't pay a penny to accept your products so they must be shipped Delivery Duty Paid (DDP).
If you're shipping via sea, this isn't an issue as you will most likely need a customs broker to clear your shipment. If using Amazon Global Logistics, you'll enter your customs information then and Amazon will bill you for the duties. If using your own freight forwarder you'll need to make sure you pay for this ahead of time. However, if shipping via air courier (i.e. UPS/FedEx/etc.) by default duties and other charges will be billed to the receiver. If shipping by air courier you must specify for the charges to be billed to the sender (DDP).
If your shipment is below the $800 cost then it will fall below the $800 de minimis threshold and no duties should be owed.
The Pros/Cons of Shipping to a Third-Party Logistics (3PL) Company First
Let's now look at the Pros and Cons of shipping first to a 3PL. For better or worse, with Inventory Storage limits that Amazon aggressively rolled even more in 2023 along with hefty ‘aged inventory surcharges' 3PLs are becoming a greater requirement.
Middleman/3PL Pros
- Can inspect the order domestically before it arrives at Amazon
- Don't have to worry as much about Inventory Limits
- Can use partnered carriers
- Dividing shipments to multiple Amazon FCs is easy
Middleman/3PL Cons
- More expensive
- More handling of your products
- Slower
You can simply have your shipments from China shipped directly to yourself or you can use a 3rd Party Logistics company (3PL). A 3PL will receive your shipment from China and either warehouse it or ship it to Amazon from you. Along with the other advantages of shipping this way is that you can now use Amazon Partnered Carriers for either small parcel shipments or LTL and it is very cheap. The other main advantage of shipping via a 3PL is that you don't have to worry as much about Amazon's inventory limits. You can “drip” your inventory into Amazon when you want and in smaller batches.
Using a 3PL in between is, in fact, advantageous in almost every way except time and money. These are very important factors though.
A 3PL is likely going to spend 2-5 days receiving your stock and preparing it. It will also take a few more days in transit time from your 3PL to the designated Amazon FC. So more or less, using a middleman will add at least 1-2 weeks in lead time to get to Amazon FBA.
Most 3PLs are going to charge you a receiving fee (normally around $1-$5 per carton or $10-$50 per pallet), a pick/pack fee to actually ship the products (not including carrier fees of course) to Amazon FBA (normally around $1-$4) any labeling fees like barcodes (normally around $0.1-$0.25), and finally storage fees. Below is an example pricelist from a 3PL.
When to Ship Direct and When to Use a Middle Man
So when should you ship direct to Amazon and when should you use a 3PL?
When to use a middleman when shipping to Amazon FBA:
- It's your first shipment from a supplier, this way you can inspect it and also have an American-based company prep/label it.
- You have a lot of products and your inventory limits won't allow you to ship it all into Amazon.
- It's your first time using FBA, this way you avoid making any errors resulting in your shipment being rejected and sent back to China.
- It's financially cheaper to use a middleman specifically due to the savings in having one consolidated shipment sent from China.
When to Ship Directly from China to FBA:
- You're shipping a small physical amount of products (1 carton) and it is valued under $800.
- You're shipment doesn't exceed your inventory limits.
- Time is absolutely critical for you and every day counts.
- You have lengthy experience with your supplier (and/or you've used a third-party inspection agency in China) and you have lengthy experience shipping products to Amazon FBA and it's cheaper than using a middleman.
In my opinion, if you're relatively new to the whole importing game or Amazon FBA game, you should have your first couple of shipments sent directly to your home or business if at all possible. You should handle your products personally at some point.
Conclusion
Hopefully, this article has addressed the pros and cons of shipping directly from China to Amazon FBA as well as using a middleman.
How do you ship your products to Amazon FBA warehouses? What has been your experience shipping directly from China? Has everything gone smoothly or have you run into a few hiccups along the way? I'd love to hear about your experience in the comments below.
The low cost of labor and favorable policies by the government helps keep the cost of production low.
Correct :)
Hi, do all the individual pieces of 3,000 units of the same product need to be labelled with an FNSKU when they are shipped from China to the USA? Let’s say I am selling cardboard boxes. The (flat) boxes are just shrink-wrapped onto a pallet without any (master) cartons.
There will be a shipping label on all four sides of the pallet.
When these pallets arrive at the Amazon warehouse how will the pallets/products be dealt with?
I offer Amazon customers the option to purchase a bundle of 10 or 20pcs. Will Amazon just look at my inventory, take 10 or 20 products, put them in a box and ship them to my customer?
I am unsure how I need to present my product correctly to Amazon and it is not clear to my how AMZ picks & packs orders.
KR
hello good night David, could you tell me if DHL will charge taxes even if the value of the goods is below 800USD…… I’m going to buy in China, the value is 300usd…..but I have this doubt …………….Does DHL want to charge something even if it is under 800usd?
thanks for the help..
Hi David, I registered with Amazon under an individual plan (0.99 USD per sale). Now I want to make a purchase in China and send to Amazon USA and plan to sell under the business plan (39.99 USD) per month. Please advise me how to proceed initially? Do I create the listing under the individual plan, get the barcodes, purchase goods in China and send them to USA? Or I switch to business account first and do the listing and all the rest? At which stage to switch between the individual and business plans? Thank you.
Great guide about that, keep the good content!
Thank you very much! Glad it helped.
Hi Dave,
I will be shipping my first order from China to a Amazon Warehouse in USA. I am a foreign based company in the Netherlands.
My question is, do I have to have an EIN number to be able to ship through a freight forwarder?
Kind regards,
Ash
No
Hi,
this article is pretty good! I am an 3PL provider, where or which website can I quick get connected with potential customers (e.g. Amazon sellers)?
Regards,
Leon
When importing a shipping plan, it doesn’t give me an option to pick Amazon Global Logistics. But when I pick an asin and go with the manual “send/replenish inventory” way, it allows me to pick AGL.
Is there any specific thing to write as “ShippingMethod” in the Shipping Plan Sheet? I’m stuck :(
Dave – have a couple questions:
We are generating orders and will handle the consolidation in China. they are for FBA and will be FCL – only going to Amazons Germany location. my questions are:
1. how do I put these orders in or “build” the shipment?
2. Then once built – how do I generate the labels to send to factories?
I will be shipping thru our frt forwarder – so what specific instructions for their SOP should be given.
i realize some of this may be in your deck but need more specifics as I have never worked within seller central…
Hi,
I am a new Amazon seller, and I learned so much from this great post.
I live in US, and plan to import my product from Pakistan. The cost is going to be around $5000. What I learned from this post is that it is safer to receive the shipment at my address first, inspect it and then send it to FBA.
What I am unclear about is paying the custom fees twice. Do I have to pay the custom fees while receiving it at my address first, and then again at FBA warehouse as the products are imported from Pakistan?
Please explain.
Thanks.
If you’re shipping China->Pakistan-> USA, yes you’ll pay customs twice unfortunately.
[…] Check the freight costs […]
[…] Related reading: How to Get Your Products from China to Amazon FBA […]
Hi Dave, I just finished reading every single comment. I don’t have a question myself but just felt inclined to say that you’ve done some amazing work here answering everyone’s questions. I am a new seller working on my first product with my supplier and this article is a goldmine of information. Curious to see if you’re still active here in May 2020 :)
[…] Source […]
Hi. I need to ship directly to FBA from Taiwan, China. Upon checking cost, it seems DHL Air Connect will be the lesser cost I can get. However, incoterms options is DAP and EXW. Which is my problem since I want the courier to bill me all the cost (custom duties and other local charges) since Amazon will not pay for it. Can you advise me how to do it and what would the best solution for this?
I’m not sure – you’d have to ask DHL.
Hi,
I apologize if I missed the answer to this question in the above comments.
I’m in China and want to sell my Children’s book in the US. ($12.99). I can have the shipments sent directly to my Beijing office before heading to Amazon.
What are your suggestions in terms of sending the package? i.e. Can I just ring DHL/FedEx and send 60 units at a time – below the $800 threshold amount – directly to Amazon? (or is it more complicated than that?) Thanks.
Yes, more or less.
Wow!
I have to say the information here is very great! I read every single comment too. I give you a ton of respect for all the answers you’ve given to a lot of the questions. I definitely book marked this! Thank you!
Hello,
I just realized my supplier is located very from from the city, and is near Wuyi Mountain. She advises me not to do a 3rd parties inspection because its costly. Its my first time doing amazon fab and will b my first order which is under 200 unit. Do you know of any 3pl in that area and what do you think I should do?
QIMA or any inspection agency will go anywhere for about $300. It makes me nervous they’re saying so explicitly to avoid doing an inspection.
hi
please advise for garments packing to Amazon FBA need to be palletized
secondly
can you advise the Bangladesh forwarders handling sea shipment to Amazon FBA
Depends on the volume of the shipment.
what information should i provide to chinese suplier that my items directly to go to my my seller account.
Too broad of question.
Great article, Dave!
Amazon started routing all my shipments to North Carolina center earlier this year and nothing I can change (address, package size, inventory placement) can get it to change to the West Coast (for cheaper and faster shipping). Any suggestions of how to get a West Coast routed shipment?
If changing the ship from address isn’t changing it, unfortunately there’s not a ton you can do :(-(
Hi Dave, nice article! Regarding inspection companies, I’ve used these services so many times since I started importing from China including Qima, but I’d like to recommend V-Trust which has consistently helped boost the overall quality of my products through the specialized consultancies they normally give after inspections, instead of just reporting like the other regular inspection companies do. Have you tried their services?
Haven’t tried them but thanks for the mention!
Thanks for Dave Bryant’s sharing. I am freight forwarder from CHINA, We are focus on FBA freight service in 8 years, we comprehend the details of Amazon FBA ,such as how to packing,labeling for FBA products, and we are willing to share our professional experiences with our customers, we do logistics including LTL/FTL sea freight,air freight, DHL,UPS,FEDEX, from CHINA to ALL Amazon FC center,such like US,UK,Japan,Canada,etc……,also offering full-time english service for our customer. If you have any questions, please contact me: yifei@flashmantech.com.
Hi Dave,
I just put an order in that is going to be delivered via sea from Shenzen Port to Amazon FBA. I have paid supplier for shipping to include forwarding all the way to Amazon FBA distribution center (VIA UPS). In your article you say to list an address in Southern California so shipping time is shorter. I would like the product to go to a center in California but am afraid to do this because if there is an issue would they sent my products back to that address (that im not really associated with)? My other option is using my regular address which puts me up in Chicago which Im not sure what port would be used. Have you had any issues with using the address you provided in your article?
Thanks for your help and time.
If they’re going via air and ups there won’t be much of a difference in shipping rates no matter the FC. It matters most for sea shipments.
Hello, everyone. I am about to ship my first order to Amazon FBA and I have a question.
1. “Ship from” name? What name I have to write?
The name doesn’t really matter. Use your company or personal name.
Great article Dave — very useful, organized and professional information.
I’m a first time buyer and importer in FBA. My product is small and lightweight
– total order weight of ~148kgs. According to my research and a few calculations, air courier / express is my best option. However, I seem to be stuck on preparing a shipping plan in Amazon’s Seller Central. As I understand it, the “ship from” address is supposed to be the Freight Forwarder’s address or my business / home address. However, since I would be shipping from factory straight to AMZ FC, I would think the correct address would be the Chinese factory’s address but that allegedly affects which and how many AMZ FC the load gets assigned to.
Considering the product load is going from factory directly to AMZ FC (without using AMZ shipping partner’s services inside de US), does the ship from address really matter? Which address would you recommend for the “ship from” field?
To make things even more confusing, my supplier needs the AMZ FC address to for a DDP / air courier quote so I’m basically stuck in this step.
Any advice would be a great help and deeply appreciated.
The ship from address only matters if you’re using partnered carriers. Other wise you can put whatever you want there.
Javier,
What did you end up using as a ship from address and did it work out? Was your supplier able to get that address for you prior to shipment?
Great article Dave – really useful, professional and detailed information.
I’m a first time buyer and shipping to FBA. The products I’m shipping are small and lightweight — total order weight of ~148kg. According to my research and a few calculations, my best option is air courier shipping directly with my supplier to AMZ FC.
I’m confused as to what address should I use in the “ship from” section of the shipping plan. As I understand it, that address should be the FReight Forwarder’s US warehouse address or my US Business or home address. However, if the courier service ships directly to AMZ FC. Shouldn’t the address be the Chinese supplier’s address? Does it really matter since I won’t be needing Amazon courier partners to pick up the shipment in the US?
To make it even more confusing, my supplier needs the FC address to quote DDP/ courier express. In order to get the FC assigned (and therefore the address) I need to create a shipping plan so I’ m stuck and need some help.
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
I’m 1st time importer so I used Fedex Air Courier from shipping from Fuzhou to Long Beach. I also did comparative analysis based on the info I gathered and found out there’s not much difference between different shipping methods shipping my procuts. I saved 20 days by using Air courier but I had to add $2/unit to the retail price. My prep company FBA Inspection only delayed 3 days I remember. Not that bad I think. Most freight forwarders I contacted only accept EXW if you want them to handle the process from US port to final destination. My guess is shipping from Chinese factories to Chinese ports is quoted cheaper on the Chinese side than the US side so I just gave up saving a little bit money and used Air Courier (DAP). What you think?
If the shipments are relatively small then often there’s not a significant disadvantage shipping air. When you starting talking larger shipments, i.e. 1000 kgs plus, the differences become significant.
Hey Dave, any recommendations for great 3PL companies for FBA? Thanks!
Hi Tony, Search our site for 3PL – we have a mega guide.
Hi Dave, great article, thanks!
I’m based in Australia and intending to sell on Amazon US, so unfortunately shipping to myself first is not an option. My plan is to pay the supplier on an EXW basis, use an inspection service in China to inspect the shipment before it leaves the factory, and then use a freight forwarder to ship from China to the US, prep/label and send into the Amazon FC.
My question is: are freight forwarders the same as 3PL? The freight forwarders I’ve looked at so far seem to offer fairly comprehensive services including customs brokerage, warehousing and labelling. Isn’t that all I need?
Yes, many freight forwarders are offering 3PL services now.
Thanks guys for a really informative post. I’ve saved it for future reference!
Fantastic blog post. Thanks for all the great info!
You’re welcome Scott!
Hi,
I am in the middle of getting prices for my first Amazon product. It is small and the total shipment would be 300 lbs. I called DHL to get an estimate and they quoted me 8000.00 for air. I won’t even come close to making that much money if I sell every one of my pieces. How do I learn how to get quotes for first shipment. I know people are not paying that much money for a small quantity of products from China. There’s no way! Can anyone please shed some light? :)
Normally it’s anywhere from $8-20 for air courier. You’re in an awkward size category and there’s no cheap way to do it. Try freightos.com for an air quote. UPS/DHL/etc. won’t give you good rates unless you have an account with them.
Hello,
Glad that I came to this blog.
I am new to FBA business. I have a very basic question that how can I take photographs of my product to launch in amazon’s listing as I am going to send the product from China to US. I live in Australia.
And if possible can you guide me shortly what are the steps for the bar code? Does the supplier fixes the codes in the product or do I need to send my product to other industry where they do this work? Apology if its very basic.
Hi,
If you need pictures you’ll have to either have one product sent to you in Australia to take pictures or have a 3rd party take them in China or America. For bar coding, see here: https://www.ecomcrew.com/everything-you-need-to-know-about-barcoding-your-products/
Hello Dave,
I’m currently working on our very first order coming in from china , valued around $3100, …the question I have involves the ASINS, and labeling for my product , if I used one the middlemen in your PDF (download).. would they help me in getting these labeled and shipped out to amazon FBA?..
Most 3PLs will be able to help with this but you’ll want to confirm with them directly.
Great informative article! I’m getting ready to order my 2nd batch of product from my supplier, only this time, leaning towards getting it shipped directly from China to Amazon FBA. Shipment value is around $1500. The part I’m getting confused on is the “Shipping From” address when you create the FBA box label. What do I tell my supplier now as it won’t be shipping from my home address?
From what I’ve gathered, general consensus seem to be to use the address of your domestic freight forwarder’s warehouse. If that’s the case, do I get in contact with a forwarder like UPS/Fedex, have them get in touch with my supplier on where the shipment need to be shipped to, forwarder then gets inventory from china, I pay customs, THEN provide forwarder the FBA box label to apply?
Much Thanks,
Sam
The ship from address doesn’t really impact anything unless you’re using partnered carriers (which you won’t be). I’ve used both my address in Canada, my suppliers address, and everything in between.
Do you have an article about purchasing products that are <$800 and arriving at my house instead of amazon warehouse? What is the best method for shipping this type of order and what middle man services do I need? Thank you
If it’s going to your house, then you are the middle the man, you don’t need another. Any air courier service like UPS/FedEx/etc. is normally the cheapest in these cases.
Hi, I apologize if this has already been addressed. I am starting a new side business where I want to sell a product on Amazon using FBA. The goods will be sourced from China and the total cost (including freight to US port) will be around $3.5k. The items will be shipped by sea and roughly 13 boxes (each box will weigh roughly 33lbs).
1) If I have the items shipped directly to Amazon, I assume I will save on shipping cost? (The add’l shipping costs that I’ll pay if I have the items sent to my local address first then ship to Amazon warehouse).
2)Since this is my first time, recommend that I have it shipped to my local address where I can inspect quality, etc.? (This is my first experience ordering anything from China).
3)Any recommendations on how I should approach this?
Thanks in advance for your time.
Hi,
1) Yes it’s cheaper to send direct to amazon but riskier.
2) Yes I’d recommend this.
3. Too broad.
Hi Dave,
How much more difficult (or less) is shipping complete containers from a China factory to an Amazon location in Europe?
At work, I manage the domestic sales to Amazon, but it looks like we are about to start doing business with Amazon through the EU Direct Import program. All I know is that we will ship to one location from a Chinese factory, but I still have no knowledge of all the paperwork, labeling, etc. involved.
Thank you,
Al.
I have no direct experience but the labeling should be nearly identical. The paperwork should be similar to a normal import into the EU. I’ll be doing an article next month on shipping full full containers direct to Amazon.
Hi Dave,
I really want to start business, buy from china and sell it on Amazon, but I really don’t know how to start. Can you please guide me step by step. Is there any course from you which guide me, how to start step by step? Please if you can help me out, I would really appreciate it.
Thanks,
Hi,
We have a course but it is closed now. Check again in about a month: https://www.ecomcrew.com/course
Hey Dave,
So I have been quoted thousand pieces, three-hundred & fifty of them in each box (Amazon does 150 max), 3 total boxes I assume. Fifteen kilos each box, for approximately $ eight-hundred & fifty, reasonable? No Incoterm details given, simply “express door to door within a week” Is this Air Freight? So in this case… where do I send shipment, what address do I give my supplier? If to my residence, I’d face custom problems, right?… If I choose a Freight Forwarder, can they eliminate all the FOB mess and reduce service costs to only customs and paperwork, and shipment to my residence? How about UPS/FedEx/DHL, they offer customs and everything? If I choose one of the big 3, do I submit a “receive shipment plan” online and use big 3’s receiving address to my supplier? Thanks.
This is most likely UPS or some other air courier. If it’s air courier there’s no real incoterms needed. If its under $800 and to FBA there’s no duties to worry about (de minimis is in effect). You give the address of wherever you want the shipment going, be it yourself or FBA. There’s other implications if this goes to your residence or anywhere else.
Also, the quote is a little high. It’s possible to get closer to $500 if your supplier or you shops around. He’s probably not ripping you off, he just doesn’t get a great rate.
Thanks. Supplier also mentioned that “inspection is included” so no need for me to hire inspection service provided through Alibaba… is this recommended? Seems to me that they are trying to avoid inspections services paid by me?
Also have you ever heard of possible pallet shipments to drop at my residence? So that I could prep it privately, and ship the boxes individually bit by bit? I know boxes below $800 can be done but what are the implications of customs-related pallets being dropped on my front lawn? Thanks Dave.
That response from your Supplier is a big red flag. Would you buy a car through Craigslist without inspecting it because the seller said “no need for you to see it, I inspected it already?”.
Yes, a trucker can drop off to your house but you have to let them know it’s a residential drop off and you’re to pay more for it. Make sure you specify you need a lift gate and a pallet jack (unless you have one).
Hi David thank you for your great site here ! Hi everyone, I am based in Vietnam and new in selling on Amazon. I want to ship products from Vietnam to Melbourne Australia. David could you please give me some tips on how to do this? Anyone can share some experience of Amazon shipping Vietnam Australia ? Many thanks . As I learn that Amazon just launch in Oz, so how does the process work I wonder .
My own experience as a first time FBA importer:
1. Get the 3rd party inspection – in China. No exceptions. I adverted a disaster by doing this. Don’t listen to the suppliers promises of “all will be fine” Just do it. You’ll sleep better too.
2. You don’t need a middle man / prepper reducing you profits if you work with a trusted freight forwarder with specific Amazon experience. i.e they know the drill…leave them to it. Easier said than done I agree :-) Agree, you need to keep a close eye on how your goods are being packed on the supplier side. Get photos as mentioned.
3. Remove as much of the logistic / duty complexity by asking for DDP terms from your forwarder. It may seem a bit more expensive but I think it’s worth it. There’s good reason to pay the experts to reduce your burden with this.
More great advice.
Hi Dave,
Hoping you can assist with my query. I have gone to the effort of making a private label, barcodes and everything required for vitamin supplements I want to sell on Amazon but having an awful time with Amazons FDA Certificate and GMP Certificate requests. I have legitimate Certificates from the factories but they don’t appear good enough for Amazon. Reading a lot of blogs I fear Amazon just doesn’t want to accept any more Vitamin and herb supplement sellers on Amazon. Do you think this is so or am I doing something wrong? Your feedback would be greatly appreciated as I am thinking I might have wasted a lot of money on this. I am in Australia so I cannot sell my products here as we have tougher regulations but I had thought that it was easier there.
Kind regards
Zoltan
Hi,
The regulations are, unfortunately, more lax in the u.s. however, Amazon has been cracking down on vitamins and supplement suppliers recently. One of mine and Mike’s advice we give new importers and sellers is to not touch vitamins and supplements. Wish I could give better advice but hopefully it works out for you.
Hey Dave,
As far as our research shows, for air and sea cargo, you definitely need an EIN unless you use a custom broker like PCB.ca
You replied above that no EIN is required if use ‘air courier express’ through a customs broker like PCB.ca
What if I organized the ‘air courier express’ myself with UPS without going through customs broker like PCB.ca, do i need EIN? This is for goods value above $2,500
Thanks in advance
You do not need an EIN – you can get a non-resident importer ID. A customs broker is the easiest way to get this but you can do it on your own.
Hey Dave, thanks for all your answers.
There something I’m a little confused about. If you order, say, 1000 units of a product but want to sell it in packs of 4, who does the splitting? Do you ask the supplier to box up 4 items in custom packaging? Or do people usually send the shipment to themselves and prep it all at their house/office and then send it off to amazon?
Also, should the supplier be the one also creating the packaging and printing the design on the packaging (and also prepping)? Or would you have the supplier send the shipment to a packaging company and then the packaging company would create the packaging and prep the items for you in the package. OR (lol) would you have the china supplier send you the shipment to you and also have the packaging company send you the shipment of packaging and you prep and package everything yourself?
Or is the answer all of the above?
Thanks again
Yes, your Supplier would normally split it, although you can personally do it as well. In terms of the packaging, normally your Supplier would buy it but you can source it yourself from a packaging company and then send it to your supplier to package. Your supplier is almost always the one in charge of physically packaging the goods.
hi,
I’ve selected inventory placement and want to know how will i know which FBA warehouse in the USA will we need to deliver to. can we select which one?
You have to create the shipment in FBA first and then they’ll select it based on a number of factors.
Hi Sally, having stepped through just this myself in recent weeks, if you are using a freight agent with a distribution or freight partner in the US, say in CA, you can add the “ship from” address as the agent’s CA address. The benefit of this, sometimes, is that you may well be given an FBA address in CA to land your goods at rather than NY for example. There’s some luck involved with this however.
If you get a CA address as your FBA location, it’s possible to save quite a bit on your shipping costs. ONT8 in CA is like a distribution location. Goods come in to ONT8 and then get sent out to other locations – if you have inventory placement enabled.
Awesome – advice. Thanks.
Hello,
Do you have any idea of importing products to US.
I want my supplier from UAE or Pakistan to ship my product directly to USA FBA Fulfillment Center.
My product is stickers they are usually 6″ x 6″ in size.
I want to ship 100 pieces of it. Total value of it would be around $50 and Shipping Box weight would be 1 Kg.
It comes in document category. I talked to Amazon FBA they told me that
Custom clearance will only be needed when the inventory is directly sended outside from USA to FBA, you may also use any address of your relatives in US, so your manufacturer will be able to ship your units.
So, what do you say that I had to clear customs ? What will be their charges ? Their requirements?
I don’t want to do shipping my self.
Thank you.
As long as the value is under $800 you should not have to worry about customs. Re: de minimis customs value.
Hello,
I sell Stickers on Amazon FBA.
I want my supplier to ship From Pakistan to USA FBA FULFILLMENT CENTER. These stickers are small in size usually 6″ x 6″
And I want to Ship 100 pieces in one carton. It’s estimated value will be around $40 total. So, which is the best way for me to send inventory to FBA USA?
If it needs custom clearance do you have any idea how much charges it would be?
I live in USA.
Thank you waiting for your reply.
Hi,
I don’t know the shipping options from Pakistan but I suspect one of the domestic carriers that ships internationally is your cheapest bet. After that maybe DHL. If it’s under $800 there shouldn’t be any customs to worry about.
I am based in Australia. I have 2 products in China in separate factories that I want to bundle together and send to Amazon. Are there people in China who can accept the 2 items, package them together and label (“not to be separated” & “asphyxiation…” etc. etc) then freight to Amazon FBA for me, please? I am more than happy to pay for the advice. – I have searched high and low for this answer.
I’m sure there are some but I don’t use any. I always just have the product I need bundled sent directly to one my factories and they bundle together.
David: Can you recomend some Middle Man to do the work of labeling from China to FBA?
I know a lot of people who use FBAInspection.com. Our course has a lot more recommendations :)
David, you’re just amazing. I really appreciate you for all these useful information for us beginners. I have a question and I couldn’t find the answer online. When I determine the targeted product that is selling good and want to compete with the actual seller on amazon, how can I get the similar quality of it from China, or even to find the same manufacturer?
You can use a tool like importgenius.com to find the suppliers. It works about half the time. However, you should be able to find similar Suppliers on Alibaba – you just have to search. That’s the hard part and where you’ll earn your keep :)
Hi Can you recommend a reliable honest USA based third party company who can accept and process my goods from China and then dispatch to an Amazon FBA warehouse?